Thursday, October 25, 2012

Why does almost everyone in the Bay Area hate Joe Buck and Tim McCarver?

Cover Photo

San Francisco Bay Area sports fans hate Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

My question: why?

Buck is in love with himself, his voice, his persona, I get it, but he's not as terrible
as most people make him out to be, or am I missing something? Oh, he's got a
Cardinals bias, could that be the case? Haven't heard it from this corner.

McCarver is what I like to say, "possesses the 'Dan Dierdorf'-syndrome". He knows his stuff
and all, just doesn't know how and when to say it, and when he does say it, it's quite
often.

You guys have opinions: go at it.

65 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It was a joke genius.

      Delete
    2. I don't think so. I think McCarver had a brain-freeze.

      The scary thing is why did he immediately associated Barry Manilow with San Francisco?

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    3. 10:36 is as lost as McCarver.

      Delete
  2. McCarver:
    "Valverde is not throwing illusionary strikes. If your balls look like balls and your strikes look like strikes,then your balls aren't looking like strikes and your strikes aren't looking like balls"
    "Pagan got a base hit because the bat made contact with the ball and it stayed fair"

    No time to get into Buck. Rich, if Buck ever called an A's game (especially vs the Cardinals) you would know why.

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  3. I'm spoiled. I live in L.A. where Vin Scully just finished his 63rd season calling Dodgers games. And the best thing is he is the only person in the booth for the whole game .. no color commentator, just Vin.

    As for Buck and McCarver, I agree mostly with Rick. I have no problem with Buck; but McCarver is another story. He grates on my nerves and it seems to me that he has decided the "story" of the game before he left the hotel, and he continues to tell that story well after the actual events of the game have contradicted it.

    TT

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    Replies
    1. Agree. With Scully you focus on only one individual.
      Makes for an enjoyable listening experience.
      You do not become lost in the translation.

      Delete
  4. Oops. Rich not Rick in previous post.

    TT

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  5. 9:31 got it.

    Zito does well - they mention the other Barry. Subject was changed by a great play, and one of the two goes "of course we were referring to Barry Bonds".

    Brink up Melky, when the Giants did the right thing by leaving him off the roster.

    Best to leave the sound off and tune in to KNBR for the play by play.

    They had to bring up the

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    Replies
    1. I'm still waiting for the Melk-men to show up.
      The Sausalito ferry must be delayed.

      Delete
  6. Tim McCarver, I could live without. Joe Buck is one of the best announcers in the game. Also, Joe has one of the best hair transplants I've ever seen-almost unnoticeable; until they hit him with a close, close up on Monday's St. Louis game..

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  7. Buck is ok. They need to get rid of McCarver. His time has passed, he doesn't understand today's players.

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  8. McCarver is a master of the obvious and never shuts up. Buck is where he is because of who his daddy was, which is reason enuf for many to hate him. I won't get into the, uh, rumors about him.

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  9. First of all, I dislike McCarver far more than Buck. Buck is kind of a generic play-by-play guy who knows his stuff but comes across as slightly conceited.

    McCarver on the other hand is a big mouth, know-it-all who insists on being the ultimate authority ON EVERYTHING. He issues his tiresome observations as if they are being handed down by some almighty god regardless of how trivial the matter or how right or wrong he might be.

    Ignore what he is saying and listen to his tone of voice, one message comes across loud and clear; I KNOW IT ALL.

    When I watch the games on Fox, I mute my TV. I can see what's going on and the reprieve from listening to McCarver is music to my ears.

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  10. In general I think Buck gets it and provides a pretty apt description of what's happening.
    McCarver's problem is that he has been away from the game for too long. It would take him an entire season to provide the amount of insight that Kuiper and Krukow impart during every game. You learn about the game listening to the local guys. You deal with the game listening to the Fox people.
    McCarver should try occasional silence as opposed to yammering about the very obvious.
    One other point. The 2010 series win was beautiful for many things including the shelving once and for all of the Bonds era. He isn't mentioned anymore -- except by McCarver. The man has no feel for the game or the nuances of hometown history. Which part of that is not his job?

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  11. Joe Buck OK. Tim McCarver that is another story.

    BTW Make your plans for a parade down Market Street.
    Because this Series is done. You can stick a folk in it.

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    Replies
    1. You got so excited you freudian slipped.

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  12. It's not just the bay area. The nationwide message board on CBS Sportsline.com during the game was 90% negative on them. Turn off the bleeder and listen to a station from the visiting team for other perspectives........Detroit, for example, doesn't care for the broadcast team either, they also are having a hard time on WXYT
    generating Tiger talk as the listeners seem more interested in the Lions, Wolverines, Spartans, and Red Wings.

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  13. Buck is east coast eletist. I don't mind McCarver. Buck is always bad on 49er broadcasts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obviously you don't know anything about the east coast.

      Buck is no east coast elitist nor does he sound like one. He's from St. Louis and a mid-Westerner all the way.

      Delete
    2. He's from St. Louis moron. I can't stand him though.

      Delete
  14. Exactly!

    Look, I can give Buck a little bit of a pass. Yes, he's full of himself (An on-field podium? Seriously?!), but he's not a terrible PBP guy. And after listening to the Giants home announcers all the time, hearing anybody who gives equal or even 45-60% of the love to the opponent can seem like a total hater.

    But McCarver is just terrible. I'm not annoyed by McCarver being biased....I'm annoyed by him being just plain dumb and a TERRIBLE analyst.

    He has an entire website devoted to his inane ramblings. And from just this postseason alone we've gotten gems like: "It's frustrating when you do exactly what you want to do as Theriot just did." WTH?!

    And really, Rich? You really think McCarver knows his stuff?

    Personally, I think a paid professional analyst should at least....AT LEAST....be able to identify which teams are in which dugouts (something he messed up on in the NLCS). And to then not even know that Barry Bonds is related to the Giants?!

    I dunno, maybe I ask too much from a guy used to be a professional catcher and who has been nationally broadcasting baseball playoff games for 30 years.

    Look, we all have brain farts from time to time.....but McCarver has brain farts every time he opens his mouth.

    Barry Manilow?!

    Even exempting guys like Jon Miller and Vin Scully who have national credentials but are also California-based.....does anybody think guys like Bob Uecker or Tigers great Ernie Harwell would have made a gaffe like that. Anybody think that even east coast local guys like Keith Hernandez and Jerry Remy would've made that mistake? Do you think Al Michaels or Bob Costas would've ever uttered the words "Barry Manilow".....even as a joke (ehh, maybe Costas, but at least it would have been an intentional joke).

    Even my wife who doesn't watch much baseball thinks she knows more about baseball than McCarver. She knew Barry Bonds was a Giant.

    And I'll tell you something else, unlike McCarver, my wife was able to actually clearly and intelligently articulate how and why the Giants would beat up on Verlander and the Tigers....and she did so BEFORE the game!

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  15. "one of the most overmatched contests ever (Zito hitting off Verlaunchpadder)" right before Zito singles off him. Classic "The best way for the Giants to take care of Cabrera and Fielder is to not have runners on base when they come up to bat."
    McCarver is a genius, I tells ya, a genius.

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  16. Yeah I do not get it either. Maybe because giants fans are used to Krukow and Kuiper and plus the FOX national broadcast duo of Buck and McCarver do not have as knowledge of the Giants and their persona as the local guys.
    I personally do not mind those two and I think they are okay. If anything the best national duo ever in my opinion were Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola. Yes I know Scully is the Dodgers play-by-play guy but when he was on NBC's Game of the Week and the playoffs with Garagiola, they were awesome

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  17. Three reasons we think Buck and McCarver suck: 1. We're biased for SF. 2. The national media seems to be biased for anyone playing against SF. 3. We have Kruk, Kuip, Miller & Flemming.

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    Replies
    1. I knew there would be one annoying fuck-face blowing Kruk and Kuip. Go to hell man.

      Delete
    2. Let's fly the Giants banner one more time!
      Go Giants! Go!

      Delete
  18. Maybe Bay viewers consider Buck to be bad luck. I do know that most Bay Media sports scribes have frequently made their disdain for McCarver very clear, especially San Jose's columnists. I admit I'm hearing more malaprops from McCarver than ever before. That obviously doesn't help.

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  19. I too don't understand the hatred towards those two. There seems to be a segment of the public who hates ”know it alls” like Mccarver and Joe Morgan. Why the resentment? They are hall of famers who have deep knowledge of the game and they share what they know. I enjoy learning that type of information during a game.

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  20. Buck has the overly-dramatic delivery with ridiculous pauses in most every situation, makes the mundane into something incredible and thus has nowhere new to go when something big is occurring.

    As for McCarver, he really does not know his stuff or do his homework, other than the "playing days" insights. The most glaring example of this was when he said that (paraphrasing) "Lincecum had quite a high number of wild pitches this year and with a catcher like Posey back there with such great fundamentals, this was a surprise." Anyone with even a rudimentary grasp of the Giants in 2012 knows that Sanchez, not Posey, caught most of Lincecum's starts...this lack of prep presents itself often.

    I'm not sure why Fox keeps them around...I guess even criticsm counts as attention, or something

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  21. World Series Drinking Game...pop a top @ each mention of Melky Cabrera and or, the All Star game. if the diatribe lasts through more than one at bat, pop a top for each at bat.

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  22. Joe Buck is solid, and Tim McCarver is good.

    McCarver is one (like Joe Morgan) who has such insight that I learn something almost every time I watch/hear them do a game...and that is the kind of analyst you want.

    The Barry Manilow comment, whether intentional, or McCarver having a "senior moment" was funny! It is sports, not life and death.

    And for those who see bias, that is likely a "you" problem, as you likely see bias in and from anyone who doesn't think like you.



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  23. McCarver has the propensity to state the super obvious, adding nothing substantial to the conversation. Buck is a decent announcer but has all the familiar characteristics of a holier than thou persona.

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  24. All the Fox baseball telecasts are unwatchable. Not just because of Buck and McCarver. If you only watched baseball on Fox you'd never know what a baseball stadium looks like. It's one extreme close up after another after another after another. ECU,cut to the pitcher cut to the batter cut to the dough out, cut to the stands, back to the pitcher then the batter - finally the pitch. Ball one. Repeat the whole thing, then cut to some dunce with a headset in the dough-out, cut to the pitcher rubbing the baseball on his ass, on and on. And the Fox graphics are especially annoying. Can't watch it at all.

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  25. What I have to report is..did you see Christina Loren on Comcast at5 look into the camera and blow a kiss saying "This is for you Bill(Laskey)"?
    Papa,Vida, and the rest were floored. Me too. Its so hot when hot chicks go for ugly guys.
    S

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  26. I work with all Sports announcers from across the nation, and they all agree. Folks listening to him in the West think he has an East Coast Bias. Folks listening in the East, think he has a West Coast bias.

    I think he's just another announcer. Nice guy in person, but most of them are.

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    Replies
    1. West Coast bias? That's a first.

      Delete
  27. Quite simply, they aren't the guys that take fans through the journey of Giants baseball during the first six months of the year. They don't know the Giants like the KNBR/Comcast Sports Bay Area crew does. They probably don't care about the Giants and (naturally), they have to remain neutral.

    The problem is that we uniquely experience the Giants day in and day out through Kruk, Kuip, Miller, Flemming and the rest of the local broadcast team. We're familiar with them and see/hear them on a nearly daily basis that starts during spring training. Now that we are on the biggest (and most crucial) postseason national stage, the broadcasting dynamic has been turned upside down into the unfamiliar. It's not just Buck and McCarver - it's the different scoreboard graphic in the upper corner of our screens. Different music. Different camera angles.

    Regardless of whether it's better or inferior, it is different.

    They are strangers that crashed our party and have taken over the master of ceremony duties.

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  28. It's just not these two bobble heads, it's all of MLB. They do not respect the San Francisco Giants.

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    Replies
    1. Huh? You sound like a SF politician.

      Delete
  29. Giants fans have been brainwashed because of the control the team has over the media. Write or say something bad and no credential or assistance for you. The announcers are semi-homers. Cheerleaders. They have to be or they're looking for work. Miller imitates Vin Scully, but he's no Vin. Flemming is solid, but he's working within restraints. Kuiper can be good, but he has to play straight man to Krukow the Clown. Because of how they treat the media, the Giants get no respect. The local phonies are so subjective that someone has to provide the other side. But the days of objective journalism are gone. It's all about the $$$ and the Giants need to put fannies in the seats so they want everything positive. People are too dumb to know the difference. All teams are like that now anyway.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, another paranoid accusations of Giants Machiavellian control of the local media.

      Please provide an actual example. And how would they be able to control the local newspapers?

      Delete
    2. Thank you post at 4;48pm. Finally people are opening their eyes regarding the Giants strangle hold on the media.

      I will give slack to those employed by the team.
      It is the writers, translation, The San Francisco Chronicle, and their unabashed protection to the team.

      As for the 8:36pm post. Please wake up. Don't be so naive.

      Delete
    3. @2:10
      Don't be so paranoid. Please provide a concrete example of your wild accusations about Giants Machiavellian control of the media.

      You and your wing nut friends keep repeating this nonsense but can never come up with a specific example. You just throw that wild claim out there and your sappy friends agree with you.

      How can the Giants control what the San Francisco Chronicle writes about the team. Explain it to me.

      Delete
    4. And not to mention KNBR, which has an ownership stake in the Giants. I'll also betcha KTVU doesn't say much negative either (same). Oh and let's not forget the butt-kissers at Comcast who own the television rights -- and that carries over to KNTV, whose sports coverage comes from...Comcast.

      Hey "Fair and Balanced," count how many times you've heard negatives. Seriously. You won't find much. Everything is rosy and nice as far as they're concerned. So sad that the media is so biased.

      And you should see how one of the official scorers roots for the Giants on his Facebook page. The man is supposed to be objective, not subjective.

      If you cover the team or if you're out at AT&T in the press box, you'll know who this is. He's a pompous homer...who's also the official scorer. Rah, rah.

      Delete
    5. Why are you changing the subject to the official scorer? He's not functioning as a member of the media.

      I listen to KNBR and hear criticism of the Giants often. Obviously the specific media outlets who carry their games are not going to go out of their way to disparage the team. But that's completely different from these sweeping statements about how the Giants control the media as if the Giants possess enormous power and can punish those who don't cooperate.

      Supporting the local team when it's in the World Series is not bias, it's just people enjoying something. Don't you have anything better to complain about?

      Delete
    6. Brainwashed? Because we are rooting for our team in the World Series?

      Delete
  30. Tim McCarver can be a little bit wordy explaining simple situation that's when I tune out. As for Buck, there is no so-called East Coast bias coming from a guy from the Mid-West!!! I lived on the East Coast and I never seen him on television or hear him on radio.... He doesn't even come close to his father Jack Buck. He is just a network loudmouth pinhead that likes to hear himself talk and a shill for the hottest team at the time

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  31. I'm pretty sure McCarver was joking around when he brought up Barry Manilow after Buck mentioned a previous "Barry."

    Not that I'm a fan of his, but people are trying to hard to find reasons to hate McCarver.

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  32. Listening to the ESPN radio national broadcast with Dan Schulman and Orel Hersheiser. They're actually pretty good and know their stuff. Way better than Buck & McCarver.

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    Replies
    1. Good point. They have a better delivery.
      No flash, just play by play.

      Delete
  33. are people really crying for their home team announcers on television during a national broadcast? really?

    this your first go round?

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  34. Worst sports announcer of all time? Paul Page(motorsports in case democrats are reading). He's not even fit for calling livestock shows.

    McCarver is the Huell Howser of Bball.

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  35. Buck I've always felt is a decent PBP guy for baseball or football. McCarver on the other hand does know his stuff. Unfortunately he seems obsessed with making sure everyone watching the broadcast knows it. Kruk is a homer but during games he has great insights into what is going on in the game. McCarver wouldn't be so awful if he'd just make comments without trying to embellish them. As for his malaprompts, that seems to be a time-honored tradition in network sportscasting. I recall the late, great Curt Gowdy making tons of them in his day. Or the late Chris Schenkel. I'm sure there are many others.

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  36. Rich, I think you touched a nerve! McCarver has a good TV interview show, but he is annoying as everyone else has already stated. I can't think of any TV broadcast team that would satisfy everyone. I do wish that Fox tried harder to find a better team.

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  37. Buck's late father, Jack, was the epitome of baseball and football sportscasting in the midwest for eons. A lot of that has rubbed off on son Joe.

    Unfortunately, Joe listens too much to the homer of midwest sportscasting in Mike Shannon who does PBP for the Cardinals and is just horrible.

    It's an arrogance. Buck knows the game, but purposely lacks the charm of what his Dad could paint in a word picture on radio or television. Who can forget some of Jack Buck's classic calls like Kirk Gibson's homerun -- "I can't believe what I just saw!"

    A missed silenced voice from KMOX in St. Louis.

    At the same time, McCarver isn't merely a fan's broadcaster. He's too much of a "teacher" and wants you to know it. He lacks in personality what he possess in a million stories that would tell the story succinctly and creatively.

    The broadcast booth became a solid domain for McCarver since his playing days with the Phillies as Steve Carlton's catcher and as his work with the Mets. It's pompous and often more grating to listen to than storytelling. To McCarver, if given a mike -- it becomes a lethal weapon. Long on substance, short on color from a fan's perspective.

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  38. Please anon 4:48 pm and those who feel the same way about the media being controlled by the Giants, WAKE UP! I work in the media, (on the air and I write as well), and that simply isn't true. The fact is, when a team is going as well as the Giants are, fans get excited and the media responds. You don;t ignore a big story and you don't 'rain on the parade' when the team is winning because what is there to rain on?

    No one said that the 49ers controlled the media when they were winning all of those Superbowls back in the 1980s, and you wouldn't have believed all of the hype and stories and TV and radio coverage they got. So what's your point? Are you just someone who doesn't like the team? That's fine, but you and the rest of these nitwits who say that the "media is being controlled' by the Giants are really out to lunch! The media doesn't care, one way or the other, they're just happy to cover a good story. End of discussion.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you @10:42, you are exactly correct.

      I'm tired of seeing those same unfounded claims (the corrupt, all-powerful Giants control all the local media, etc.) show up here repeatedly with out any specific examples or explanation about how they would derive such enormous power. Sports teams need media cooperation, not the other way around.

      Delete
    2. So YOU have been brainwashed and see the world through orange glasses, huh? Fact: listen to KNBR. They have zero objectivity. Ever hear a negative call or comment about the Giants? Chances are RARELY. Sure everyone will jump on the bandwagon and cheer for the Giants right now. That's natural. But put away the Buster Posey jersey that you sleep with and think about it for a moment. What about when things weren't so good. You didn't see much negativity.

      When the 49ers were on their Super Bowl runs in the 1980s, the climate was different. The media wasn't afraid to say negative things about the team. Some of it warranted, some of it not warranted. But now everything's about the $$ and anything negative affects the bottom line.

      The media cares...you sure do. End of discussion.

      Delete
    3. @10:16, your so-called facts are simply wrong.

      Larry Krueger criticizes the Giants all the time, as recently as when they were down 2 games to the Cards. So does Radnich. So does Tom. I listen to KNBR and I have heard the criticsm frequently, particularly when they are going poorly. Radnich has come out and said that they just weren't that good a time.

      So, to answer your question, YES, I have hear negative comments about the Giants on KNBR, frequently.

      The Chronicle is the only paper in town, they don't need to be afraid of the Giants.

      Please, one of you paranoid conspiracy theorists, give a specific example of how the Giants control the media.

      Delete
    4. @10:16am

      "When the 49ers were on their Super Bowl runs in the 1980s, the climate was different. The media wasn't afraid to say negative things about the team. Some of it warranted, some of it not warranted."

      That doesn't even make sense. Outside of throwing out these broad generalities, try to explain in coherent terms what control a sports team holds over the media.

      BTW, ending your stupid comment with the words "End of discussion" doesn't end the conversation or enhance your credibility.

      Delete
  39. Radnich defends McCarver and FOX as hard as he does Fitz. No need to say more.

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  40. From Gaga V:

    I hate to repeat myself on multiple forums, but here I go (I posted this also on 95.7 the GAME's page).

    Buck is hated – and not just by Giants fans – for a number of reasons. First, we’re forced to listen to him, rather than the preferred home radio and TV guys. You can’t even mute the TV and listen to the radio anymore because of the delay. (Blame a certain Janet Jackson ‘wardrobe malfunction’ for that. I hate not being able to listen to Greg Papa while I’m watching Raiders games for the same reason.)

    Second, while Buck is a competent broadcaster, he’s not personable. Unlike an Al Michaels, or John Madden, or Jon Miller, or Duane Kuiper – or the sainted Bill King, or Lon Simmons – Buck is not conversational or humorous. He’s always in big voice mode.

    Speaking of his voice, it never changes, no matter what he’s talking about. Example – read this with Buck’s voice doing the narration: “And that DOUBLE by Derek JETER has put the YANKEES up 3-2 here in the seventh INNING.... (pause).... that DOUBLE is brought to you by BURGER King, home of the DOUBLE WHOPPER.” He doesn’t modulate his voice to fit the situation, whether he’s calling a critical play or reading a sponsor’s slogan.

    Third, a perception by Giants fans (perhaps accurate) that Buck is against their team. (Because he’s pro-Cardinals.)

    Fourth, the perception that the only reason he got his job is because of his dad Jack Buck. This might be sacrilege to say, but I never liked Jack Buck. I still remember when he was calling the World Series on CBS, the 1990 Series, I think, when Jack kept pronouncing Jose Canseco’s name as “Conn-sayko.” Come on dude, this guy’s only the most famous ballplayer in the country, at least get his name right.

    Fifth, the whole Randy Moss thing. “This disgusting act,” or whatever he said. Give me a break. It was funny. And Moss was only doing that because that’s what Packer fans really do to the visiting team as they are leaving the parking lot in their team bus. That incident has gotten so overblown by pompous Joe Buck’s revulsion that there are people to this day that believe that Moss actually pulled his pants down.

    Sixth, overexposure. Who decreed that he’s FOX’s number one guy for both football and baseball? There are plenty of better announcers out there.

    If I come up with a seventh one I’ll let you know.

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    Replies
    1. Also from Gaga V:

      As for McCarver.... it's all been said. I pretty much agree with the typical criticisms of him.

      Delete
  41. Lowell Cohn was let go from the Chronicle primarily because he was critical of the 49er's in the 80's and 90's so I don't see where that comment that the media was tougher then makes sense. However the perception of the Bay Area media from around the country is that they are soft has some basis of truth to it whether we choose to believe it or not.

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